Stuff your peppers – in a crockpot
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, February 11, 2007
Regarding our crockpot pepper project, for starters today we hear from Emory and Darlene Lindgard of Freeland,
“We read your Forum every Monday, Wednesday and Friday faithfully and live on Whidbey Island, so Doris Leidholm, who asked for stuffed peppers in a crockpot, must be close by.
“We grabbed the first slow-cooker recipe book that was on the book shelf to see if there were any stuffed pepper recipes. The cookbook we looked at was ‘Fix-it and Forget-it Lightly’ by Phyllis Pellman Good, and we were amazed to find five to six recipes. One uses ground turkey, a couple use Spanish rice, one is a vegetable-stuffed pepper, and one uses tuna.”
Let’s try the tuna version first because, interestingly enough, it’s identical to the tuna-stuffed pepper recipe sent along by Marysville cook Lorna Hanson.
“I have not tried this recipe for stuffed peppers,” she says, “but I hope it is what Doris is looking for. I found it in my Rival crockpot cookbook. If you’re watching your calories, this sounds good.”
Next, Marian Brocious of Lake Stevens tells us, “This recipe is in response to Doris Leidholm’s request for stuffed peppers prepared in a crockpot. It’s from ‘The Best Slow Cooker Cookbook Ever.’ I have not tried this recipe, but I’ve tried others from this book with great success.”
Surprise tuna-stuffed peppers in a crockpot
2cups regular or low-sodium tomato juice
1can (6 ounces) tomato paste
2cans (6 ounces each) chunk-style tuna, drained and rinsed
2tablespoons dried onion flakes
2tablespoons dried vegetable flakes
1/4teaspoon garlic powder or to taste
4medium green bell peppers, tops removed and seeded
Mix tomato juice and tomato paste; reserve 1 cup. Mix remaining tomato juice mixture with tuna, onion flakes, vegetable flakes and garlic powder. Fill peppers equally with the tuna mixture and place upright in a 5-quart crockpot. Pour the reserved 1 cup tomato juice mixture over peppers. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 9 hours.
Makes 4 servings.
Stuffed peppers in a crockpot
4large green bell peppers
1/2cup uncooked converted white rice
1can (about 15 ounces) whole-kernel corn, drained
1small can sliced olives
3green onions, chopped
1/4teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4teaspoon garlic pepper
1can (about 141/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, divided
1/3cup dry red wine
1can (6 ounces) tomato paste
Slice tops off the peppers and carefully remove the seeds and inner ribs. Remove the stems from the tops and chop the remaining pepper pieces. Stand the peppers upright in a 5-quart slow cooker.
In a medium bowl, combine the chopped pepper pieces, rice, corn, olives, green onions, seasoned salt, garlic pepper and 1/2 cup of the tomatoes with their liquid. Mix well and stuff the peppers with this mixture, dividing evenly and packing lightly. Mix the remaining tomatoes and liquid with the wine and tomato paste until well blended. Pour over and around the peppers in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 61/2 to 7 hours, or until the rice is cooked and the peppers are tender but still hold their shape.
Makes 4 servings.
Bits and pieces: More great feedback on the recent recipe for butter-dipped biscuits, as Everett cook Lorraine Cardinal writes, “I have made my biscuits for many years using Bisquick mix. I melt butter or margarine in a cake pan, then I slosh the cutout biscuits in the butter or margarine on both sides and bake in the same pan. They come out wonderful and freeze well. Thawed out in the microwave, they taste like they just came from the oven. They are quick and easy and never fail.”
The Forum is always happy to receive you contributions and requests, so send them along to Judyrae Kruse at the Forum, c/o The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206. Please remember that all letters and all e-mail must include a name, complete address with ZIP code and telephone number with area code. No exceptions and sorry, but no response to e-mail by return e-mail; send to kruse@heraldnet.com.
The next Forum will appear in Wednesday’s Food section.
